Chapter 383
Side Story: Exploration of the Holy Realm – 2
The incidents happening around me were fundamentally on a scale that was quite grand. Common people wouldn’t even dream of such things happening multiple times in a single day.
For example, there was the sight of the Pope of the Sun and Pope of the Moon acting cute, or the Eternal Magician suddenly taking an interest in something other than magic research.
The ‘Holy Realm’ planned by Floretta, Luna, Stella, and Selene also fell into that category.
It’s just that the scale was overwhelmingly vast.
“……Is all of this gold?”
“Uh… it seems like it?”
“They did decorate the corridors of the Imperial Palace with gold, but this is…”
“This is way bigger. How can this even be a hallway? It goes on forever.”
The Knight Commanders couldn’t close their mouths at the mansion’s jaw-dropping scale. The Imperial Palace was just as splendid, but the difference in size was evident.
“Delta. I thought you’d say that being in a place like this feels wrong because we both hid away, what do you think?”
The triple personality was taken to the next level. Even the polite Nix was taken aback by the mansion’s appearance, all curled up with Flore as her replacement.
Flore laughed at the timid personalities, but froze stiff when a jewel she accidentally touched rolled onto the floor.
“Wow… look at those pretty colors…”
Even Aurora was busy marveling at everything. Kaiquilia and Minerva managed to respond calmly, but that didn’t mean they weren’t surprised.
It just meant they expressed their emotions a bit less than the others.
“Truly impressive, Pope. To think of creating something like this.”
“We merely realized the concept and plans. The entire Holy Kingdom has struggled for this.”
“Do you think hands and feet can move without a brain?”
“If you say so, I shall gladly accept. Thank you for your compliments, Kaiquilia.”
“If you know that, stop being a nuisance.”
“I will strive not to be.”
Kaiquilia turned her head and clicked her tongue. She probably knew that effort would fail.
“I will guide you to the next location.”
The Pope of the Moon and the Pope of the Sun, dressed in sacred robes, stepped forward to guide us. Holy Knights and Battle Nuns had already exited the mansion.
In fact, it wouldn’t have been complicated even if everyone had come in. With one corridor stretching over 4km, it was still quite spacious.
The length of us thirteen lined up could be doubled again. It was high enough that I felt I needed at least seven more people above me to reach the ceiling.
“…So, how much money was spent here?”
Flore cautiously asked. The jewel that had fallen earlier seemed to have been restored.
“It would be inadequate to say we spent a sufficient amount. This is the place where our child will live. It’s only natural that any amount spent wouldn’t be considered wasteful.”
Luna casually mentioned the child, and no one dared to comment on it. Not even a hint of blush on their faces.
“To expand the scale further here, you must have a grand plan.”
Minerva quietly marveled as she surveyed the ‘seventh playroom’, comparable to a sizable gymnasium. Floretta replied with a smile.
“It’s something that must be done. As Sister Seraphica mentioned, this is a place for our child to live.”
“I see. It must be done, huh….”
Minerva pondered over those words, then approached Aurora and Kaiquilia. I could hear hushed whispers. It seemed the three were exchanging something.
Floretta and Luna continued explaining about the playroom, seemingly unconcerned as Minerva, Kaiquilia, and Aurora naturally moved to the very back of our group.
“…It seems it’s about time to wrap things up.”
How much time had passed? Floretta stopped walking, gazing outside.
Although we had started the exploration before lunch, it was already sunset even though we had just walked through one corridor. The sun hanging high was now sinking beyond the horizon.
The orange glow from the large window fitting the corridor poured in, dyeing the space in twilight.
“Perfect timing. The end is near.”
We were now facing a wall that stretched not horizontally but vertically, indicating we had reached the end of one side of the L-shaped corridor. Floretta and Luna, standing right in front of the wall, turned their bodies.
“Now only one last place remains.”
“Last?”
“Yes. We must take a look at a very important location. Please follow us.”
The Popes gathered divine powers. A portal made of gold and silver appeared on the beautifully decorated mansion wall. The nearby jewels sparkled in unison as they caught the light.
We entered the portal as usual. The other women went ahead, I was third from the back, with Floretta and Luna being the last.
“……”
The moment I realized where the portal led to, I stopped in my tracks.
Heavy blackout curtains tightly shut to prevent any light from seeping through, a chandelier dimmed intentionally or perhaps naturally darker than other places.
The wallpaper and furniture overflowed with an atmosphere that could be deemed decadent, if not lewd, alongside a softly diffused fragrance in the air.
Lastly, a large and vintage bed in the middle of the room could easily fit over ten people.
The room the Popes introduced as the final location was a bedroom.
“You all…”
For some reason, they had been unusually quiet until now. I felt countless gazes concentrated in one direction and looked at Floretta and Luna. The Popes were beaming with smiles.
“It was unavoidable, Delta. We haven’t tested this place yet. Like, the durability and comfort of the bed and everything else.”
“We can’t test durability with women, can we? So a man’s help is absolutely necessary, and here, there’s only one man who is allowed to enter.”
The encirclement gradually tightened. Seeing the intent of Floretta and Luna, the other women slowly began to approach.
‘Twelve of them.’
I hadn’t gone this far into serious territory yet.
“So please…”
“Could you assist in the testing?”
To cut to the chase, the bed was ridiculously sturdy. No matter how vigorously all 13 of us moved about simultaneously, not even a creak escaped it.
After laying the fainted women down properly and covering them with blankets, I finished showering and left the bedroom.
Even the bath attached to the bedroom was no different than a grand hot spring. Seeing the clear intent behind it, it perfectly served its purpose. Judging by the water level in the hot spring, it seemed very deliberately designed.
“Ugh…”
“Umm…”
Floretta and Luna, who had fallen asleep tightly hugging each other with their cheeks and chests pressed together, both mumbled in their sleep at the same time. I couldn’t help but wonder how they even managed to mirror each other like that.
In contrast, the other sisters across from them weren’t hugging at all and instead had their backs turned to each other.
“Th-That’s not allowed…”
“Th-That’s a sensitive area…”
What kind of dream were they having to mumble like that? I shook my head and exited the bedroom. The Popes’ murmuring continued until I closed the door completely.
“Greetings, Holy One.”
Battle Nuns were lined up waiting outside the room. As soon as I emerged, the nuns prostrated and bowed deeply. Their breasts, pressed down by their thighs, spread softly to the sides.
“How long did it take?”
“We were the twenty-second in line, and all the preceding sisters waited for eight hours and swapped, so it’s just over a week since you entered.”
Considering that I had brought twelve in at once, I was out remarkably quickly. It was probably thanks to figuring out a way to amplify pleasure using mana and divine powers. Otherwise, I would’ve been stuck in there for weeks.
Especially since Floretta and Luna had nearly lost consciousness and constantly change the pace.
According to the testimonies of the seven people who were dragged in when I lost my mind after seeing the information revealed during the Brightest Darkness 5 game show, what I felt precisely matched what they experienced. It was funny but true.
‘Isn’t mana and divine power supposed to be used for things like that?’
Eclipse might enjoy it even more. Being denied the common sense of Earth wasn’t exactly a rare occurrence.
Although I could never make sure since the goddess was so unpredictable, I felt that the likelihood of her liking it was much higher.
Why? Because it’s Eclipse.
“If someone asks for me, tell them I’m by the lake.”
“I shall, Holy One.”
Once more bowing their heads, I moved away from the Battle Nuns and headed towards the lake. It was a clear and pristine lake that seemed almost too clear.
I admired the lake for a moment when I heard a presence behind me without turning around and spoke.
“So, why did you call me out?”
“Oh dear, did you catch me?”
“You didn’t even think to hide your footsteps. How shameless of you.”
“I’m sorry, dear child.”
Minerva sat beside me with a face that expressed she wasn’t really sorry.
“How’s your body?”
“My lower abdomen is still tingling. I’ve been seriously considering that I might actually die if I keep this up. So where did you learn that way of managing mana?”
“I’m not quite sure. It just worked as I went along.”
I instinctively used it after losing my mind during the Brightest Darkness 5 game show. The phrase “it just worked as I went along” suited the situation perfectly.
“If I could, I’d want to learn… but that comment about the bed still stands, doesn’t it, dear child?”
“Of course it does.”
“…I’ll have to give that up for now.”
Minerva averted her gaze. Immediately after I managed that way of using mana, I realized she’d been begging to teach her, but I had responded by telling her to figure it out with her body and let her be until she passed out.
“What did you talk about with Aurora last time?”
“Oh, that? It was nothing special. Just a suggestion to create a place similar to the Holy Realm in the Aiternum Empire. Both Aurora and Kaiquilia accepted it with enthusiasm.”
“A place similar to this? Where would it be?”
“In the sky.”
Minerva looked up. The sky was clear without a single cloud, and the sun was shining brightly.
“…Is that possible?”
“If we interpret all the ancient scrolls.”
Minerva, who was speaking so simply about creating a city in the sky, lightly kicked her feet and splashed water from the lake with her toes. The circular ripples spread across the dazzlingly clear lake’s surface.
As I gazed at Minerva, splashing the water like a carefree child, I gently placed my hand on my lower abdomen.
“Ah, dear child? What are you trying to do… Ugh?!”
“I’m going to reward you for being impressive. You’ve wanted to know since the first time we met, right? The faster you feel it for yourself, the better you’ll learn.”
“W-What?! Not… Ugh! Stop! S-Stop! Ugh—”
Minerva continuously let out sweet moans with sensations vibrating in her lower abdomen before fainting in less than five minutes. I took the unconscious Minerva back to the bedroom and laid her back in her original place.
‘…The sky.’
There is indeed a dimension that can be called that.
